Week 2: We have a Basement

Great progress was made on the construction of the farmhouse this week. In case you missed last week's post, click here to get up to speed. The septic system was installed two weeks ago and the excavation of the basement and driveway all happened last week. Our builder sent us a few photos while the work was happening, and I couldn't believe how quickly progress was made.

It started with the removal of top soil...

And within a matter of hours, we had a giant hole and a driveway!

We stopped by with my parents this weekend to check on the progress first-hand and snap a few photos. I was fully prepared for the footprint to seem extremely small and unimpressive, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Even amongst 8.5 acres, the future basement felt spacious and much larger than I anticipated. Maybe it's the fact that I live in a 500 sqft apartment right now, but I was completely at ease with our decision to go with a smaller house - ~1,900 sqft.

I was completely in awe of the progress and the beauty of it all. Just look at the colors of the soil! Inspiration is in full swing over here.

Our builder, Dan, said that the soil was "clean and dry". Apparently that's exactly what you want to see, so I'm thrilled! Hopefully we get some footers poured next week and the momentum keeps going.

The other really neat thing about the basement is that it will eventually look almost exactly like the footprint you see below. We won't have any poles/supports breaking up the space, so this unfinished basement will be like one huge room with endless possibilities down the road!

By the way, the "stairs" you see straight ahead are just to help you get up and down from the hole. Our actual stairs will run on the far right side.

The photo below will be the view from the garage to the house.

And this photo shows the "pad" for the garage.

All in all, I couldn't be more thrilled with the progress. Hopefully I'll be able to share much of the same over the next several months!